Germany and the Holy Roman Empire

Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493-1648

Joachim Whaley

The first single-author account of German history from the Reformation to the early nineteenth century since Hajo Holborn's study written in the 1950s

Provides a full account of the history of the Holy Roman Empire

Challenges historians of modern German nationalism to revise their ideas about the alleged lack of a German national identity before 1800

Gives a full account of German religious movements from the Reformation to the early nineteenth century, and of their implications for the development of the Holy Roman Empire and German society

Engages with historiographical debates of recent decades

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire

Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493-1648

Joachim Whaley

Description

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire offers a striking new interpretation of a crucial era in German and European history, from the great reforms of 1495-1500 to the dissolution of the Reich in 1806. Over two volumes, Joachim Whaley rejects the notion that this was a long period of decline, and shows instead how imperial institutions developed in response to the crises of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, notably the Reformation and Thirty Years War. The impact of international developments on the Reich is also examined.

The first volume begins with an account of the reforms of the reign of Maximilian I and concludes with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. It offers a new interpretation of the Reformation, the Peasants' War, the Schmalkaldic War and the Peace of Augsburg, and of the post-Reformation development of Protestantism and Catholicism. The German policy successfully resisted the ambitions of Charles V and the repeated onslaughtsof both the Ottomans and the French, and it remained stable in the face of the French religious wars and the Dutch Revolt. The volume concludes with an analysis of the Thirty Years War as an essentially German constitutional conflict, triggered by the problems of the Habsburg dynasty and prolonged by the interventions of foreign powers. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the conflict, both reflected the development of the German polity since the late fifteenth century and created teh framework for its development over the next hundred and fifty years.

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire

Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493-1648

Joachim Whaley

Table of Contents

Introduction: Narratives of Early Modern German HistoryI. Germany and the Holy Roman Empire in 1500 1. Origins and Frontiers2. The Reich as a Polity3. Fragmented Territories4. The Reich and the German NationII. The Reform of the Reich and the Church c. 1490-1519 5. The Reformation Era in German history6. The Reich under Maximilian I7. Reich, Papacy, and Reichskirche8. Religious Renewal and the Laity9. Humanism in the Reich10. The 'Print Revolution' and the Public Sphere11. Economic Landscapes, Communities, and their Grievances12. Martin Luther and the 'Luther affair' 1517-1519III. Charles V and the Challenge of the Reformation in the 1520s 13. The Reich During the First Decade of Charles V14. Luther and Imperial Politics, 1519-152615. Luther and the German Reform Movement16. Alternative Reformations and the Dominance of Lutheranism17. The Knights' War, 1522-152318. The Peasants' War, 152519. Reformation in the CitiesIV. Mastering the Reformation c. 1526-1555 20. The Emergence of Protestant Territories21. The Persistence of Catholicism22. Charles V, Ferdinand, and the Reich in Europe23. The Establishment of Protestantism, 1526-153024. The Schmalkaldic League, its Counterparts, and the Politics of the Reich, 1530-154125. Charles V as 'Lord of Germany', 1541-154826. The Triumph of the Reich, 1548-1555V. Managing the Peace 1555-1618 27. Contours of the 'Confessional Age'28. Emperors, Imperial Officials, and Estates after the Peace of Augsburg29. Constitutional developments after 1555: Reichstag, Kreise, Courts, and Legislation30. The Reich in Europe31. Managing the Domestic Peace, 1555-c.158532. The Consensus Falters, c. 1585-160333. Paralysis, 1603-161434. Problems of the Habsburg Dynasty35. The Reich in the Reign of Emperor Matthias, 1612-161936. The Crisis of the Habsburg lands37. Imperial Public Law and the Struggle over the Imperial Constitution38. Irenicism and Patriotism on the Eve of WarVII. The German Territories and Cities after 1555 39. Problems of Interpretation40. A Benign Environment?41. State Formation?42. Domestic Order and Defence43. Confessionalization?44. Finance, Taxation, and Estates45. The Resurgence of the Courts46. The Imperial Cities47. Responding to CrisesVII. The Thirty Years War 1618-1648 48. The Thirty Years War in German History49. What Kind of Conflict?50. The Reconquest of Austria and Bohemia, 1618-162351. Ferdinand Victorious52. Denmark and the War for the Reich, 1623-162953. What Kind of Reich? Sweden and the Defence of German Liberties, 1630-163554. Wallenstein and After55. France, Sweden, and the German Way, 1635-164856. The Peace of Westphalia57. The Impact of the War on German Society58. The Thirty Years War and the German PolityGlossaryBibliographyIndex

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire

Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493-1648

Joachim Whaley

Author Information

Joachim Whaley is Senior Lecturer in German, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge. Whaley read History at Christ's College Cambridge. He held Fellowships in History at Christ's College and Robinson College before becoming a Lecturer in German in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge, where he teaches German history, thought, and language. He is the author of Religious Toleration and Social Change in Hamburg 1529-1819 and of numerous articles on early modern and modern German history. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1984.